Welcome to North Carolina Green Libraries

The North Carolina Public Library Directors Association (NCPLDA) in collaboration with the State Library of North Carolina has announced the North Carolina Green Libraries Project.

Purpose: To advocate and support environmentally responsible program and management practices in all North Carolina Public Libraries.

Background and Rationale: 

NC Public libraries are in a unique position within local communities to influence positively governmental and general resident awareness of and response to environmental issues. Mission centered, the public library can provide a full range of information and programming on the topic. As a building and business within the community, it also can be a model for environmentally appropriate facilities and other maintenance and service resource management. The members of NCPLDA assume a leadership role in helping to foster public awareness and response this area, developing a statewide response within the professional community, and focusing community attention on our profession’s positive response to a critical local and global issue. To date, there does not appear to be another statewide campaign among public libraries to accomplish such a set of tasks. 

Goals:

• To provide information to the NCPLDA membership regarding the importance of environmental responsibility within the contexts of community information service and library management.
• To determine the criteria for best practice related to the above.
• To determine the extent to which that best practice is currently evident in North Carolina public libraries.
• To focus positive public attention locally and statewide on the profession’s efforts to respond to environmental issues.  

Activities:

• In spring 2009, the NCPLDA Green Libraries Task Force conducted a survey to benchmark green efforts among NC Public Libraries. A summary of the results of that survey are located at http://www.amyregionallibrary.org/ncgreenlibrariessurvey.pdf

Green Library Resources is a wiki page with links to articles and websites on this subject.

See link in sidebar to Waste Reduction Partners' Web site.  They are under Land of Sky Regional Council in Asheville, and have a comprehensive guide:NC Guide to Energy Performance Contracting.

Madison County Public Library engaged them in 2007 to do an energy audit of 2 of our branches.  The service was free, and very professional.  The recommendations were broken down into categories according to the upfront cost and payback period.